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The
Flag of Scotland, also known as the Saint
Andrew's Cross or more commonly The
Saltire, is the national flag
of Scotland. As
the national flag, the Saltire differs from Scotland's state flag, the Royal Standard of Scotland, in
that the Saltire is the correct flag for all individuals and
corporate bodies to fly in order to demonstrate both their loyalty
and nationality. It is also flown from Scottish Government buildings every day,
with certain exceptions, from 8am until sunset.

The white saltire, or crux
decussata, (from the Latincrux:
cross, and decussis: the numeral 10), was first used as a
symbol of Scotland in 1180, during the reign of William I, and historical evidence
shows that a celestial blue background has been applied to flags
depicting the Saltire since the early C16th; one such example
appearing in the Register of Scottish Arms by Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, circa 1542.
However, other colours for the flag's backround, including
red and black, have also been recorded. The
legend surrounding Scotland's association with the Saltire dates
from a C9th battle, where Óengus II led a combined force
of Picts and Scots to
victory over the Angles, led by Æthelstan.
Representing the X-shaped cross upon which the
ChristianmartyrSaint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, was crucified, the Saint Andrew's Cross is one of
Scotland's most recognisable symbols.

Since the C16th, shades of blue ranging from sky blue to navy
blue have been used for the flag's background; the shade
of blue most likely being determined by the dye available at the
time. When incorporated as part of the Union
Flag during the C17th, the navy blue used for Union
Flags destined for maritime use was
probably selected on the basis of the durability of darker shades
of dye. However, this shade soon became standard on Union Flags
both at sea and on land, with some flag manufacturers even
selecting the same navy blue colour trend of the Union
Flag for the Saltire itself. This resulted in a variety of shades
of blue being depicted on the flag of Scotland, leading to calls
being made to standardise the colour of Scotland's national
flag.

In 2003, a
committee of the Scottish Parliament met to examine a petition that the Scottish Government adopt the Pantone 300 colour as a standard. (Note that
this blue is of a lighter shade than the Pantone 280 of the Union
Flag.) Having taken advice from a number of sources including the
office of the Lord Lyon King of
Arms, the committee recommended that the optimum shade of blue
for the Saltire should be Pantone 300. Recent versions of the
Saltire have therefore largely converged on this official
recommendation. (Pantone 300 is, 0, 114, 198 in the RGB colour model, or #0072C6 as hexadecimal
web colours).

The flag proportions are not fixed, but are generally taken to be
1:2, 2:3, 3:5 or 4:5. The bars in the cross in all cases should be
1/5 (i.e. 20%) of the flag
width.

History

According to legend, in 832 A.D. Óengus II led the Picts and Scots into
battle against the Angles, led by Æthelstan, near modern-day
Athelstaneford, East
Lothian. Throughout the night before the battle,
Óengus prayed to God for victory on the field, and vowed that if
victorious he would make Saint Andrew the Patron Saint of Scotland,
(a position akin to that then held by St
Columba). On the morning of the battle, white clouds forming an
X shape in the sky were seen by both armies. The Picts and Scots
were heartened by this, however the Angles regarded the phenomenon with some trepidation. Emboldened by
this apparent divine blessing, Óengus took to the field and the
Angles, despite having a superior force in terms of numbers, were
defeated.

With the formation of white clouds being interpreted as the
X-shaped cross upon which Saint Andrew was crucified, Óengus
honoured his pre-battle pledge and duly appointed Saint Andrew the
Patron Saint of Scotland. The white saltire set against a celestial
blue background is said to have been adopted as the design of the
flag of Scotland as a result of the legend of King Angus II (Óengus
II).

The earliest use of the Saltire as a symbol of Scotland can be
traced to 1180, however material evidence for the Saltire being
used as a flag, as opposed to appearing on another object such as a
seal, brooch or
surcoat, dates from somewhat later. The
earliest reference to the Saint Andrew's Cross as a flag is to be
found in the Vienna Book of Hours, circa 1503, where a
white saltire is depicted albeit with a red background. Further
evidence shows that by 1542 a blue background was also used for the
Saltire when depicted as the flag of Scotland. An even earlier
example known as the "Blue Blanket of the Trades of Edinburgh", reputedly made by Queen Margaret, wife of James III (1451-1488), also shows a
white saltire on a blue field,
however in this case the Saltire is not the only emblem to be
portrayed.

Protocol

Use by the Scottish Government

The Scottish Government has
decreed that the Saltire will fly on all its buildings every day
from 8am until sunset. An exception is made for United Kingdom "national days", when on buildings where only one
flagpole is present the Saltire shall be lowered and replaced with
the Union Flag. Such flag days are standard throughout the United Kingdom,
with the exception of Merchant Navy Day, (3 September), which is a
specific flag day in Scotland during which the Red Ensign of the Merchant Navy may be flown on land in place of
either the Saltire or Union Flag.

A further Scottish distinction from UK flag days is that
on Saint Andrew's Day, (30
November), the Union Flag will only be flown where a building has
more than one flagpole - the Saltire will not be lowered to make
way for the Union Flag where a single flagpole is present. This
distinction arose after Members of the Scottish
Parliament complained that Scotland was the only country in the
world where the potential existed for the citizens of a country to
be unable to fly their national flag on their country's national
day.

In the
battle for "hearts and minds" in Iraq, the Saltire was again used
by the British Army as a means of distinguishing troops belonging
to Scottish regiments from other coalition forces in the hope of
fostering better relations between, in this case, soldiers from the
Black Watch and the Iraqi population in
the area south west of Baghdad.
Leaflets were produced for distribution to Iraqi civilians by
members of the Black Watch, depicting troops and vehicles against a
backdrop of the Saltire.

In the period immediately prior to and following the controversial
merger in March 2006 of Scotland's historic infantry regiments to
form a single Royal Regiment
of Scotland, a multi-million-pound advertising campaign was
launched in Scotland in an attempt to attract recruits to join the
reorganised and simultaneously rebranded "Scottish Infantry". The
recruitment campaign employed the Saltire in the form of a logo;
the words "SCOTTISH INFANTRY. FORWARD AS ONE." being placed next to
a stylised image of the Saltire fluttering in a breeze. For the
duration of the campaign, this logo was used in conjunction with
the traditional Army recruiting logo; the words "ARMY. BE THE
BEST." being placed beneath a stylised representation of the Union
Flag fluttering in the breeze. Despite this multi-media campaign
having had mixed results in terms of overall success, Recruits turn their backs on army Ian Bruce.
Defence Correspondent. The
Herald. 2005-08-09. Accessed 2009-06-01Recruits down 15% as Army severs local links
Ian Bruce. Defence Correspondent. The Herald. 2007-09-19. Accessed 2009-06-01 the Saltire continues to appear on a
variety of Army recruiting media used in Scotland.

Although not represented in the form of a flag, the No.602
Squadron of the Royal
Auxiliary Air Force uses the Saltire surmounted by a lion
rampant as the device shown on the squadron crest, and the station
crest of RAF
Leuchars, Fife, also shows
the Saltire, in this case surmounted by a sword.

General use

Planning permission to fly the Saltire from a vertical flagpole is
not required, therefore it can be flown at any time by any
individual, company, local authority, hospital or school. In recent
years, embassies of the United Kingdom have flown the Saltire to
mark St Andrew's Day.

Many local authorities in Scotland fly the Saltire, including
Glasgow City Council, which
flies the flag from the City Chambers building in George Square,
and the City of Edinburgh
Council, which flies the flag from their own City Chambers.
In 2007
Angus Council led by Robert Myles decided to replace the
Saltire on Council Buildings and replace it with a new Angus flag,
based on the council's coat of arms. This move led to public
outcry across Scotland with more than 7,000 people signing a
petition opposing the council's move, leading to a compromise
whereby the Angus flag would not replace but be flown alongside the
Saltire on Council Buildings.

The practice of maritime vessels adopting the Saltire, for use as a
jack or courtesy flag, may lead to possible
confusion in that the Saltire closely resembles the maritime
signal flagM,
"MIKE", which is used to indicate "My vessel is stopped
and making no way through the water". However, so as to avoid
confusion and a possible fine, owners of vessels wishing to display
an alternative flag to that of the Saltire have resorted to
unofficial use of either the Royal Standard of Scotland or the
historic Scottish Red Ensign. Last used by the pre-1707 Royal Scots Navy and merchant marine
fleets, the Scottish Red Ensign now appears in the catalogues of
several flag manufacturers, due to its increased popularity among
private citizens for use on water.

Many bodies of the Scottish Government use the flag as a design
basis; for example, Safer Scotland's emblem depicts a lighthouse
shining beams in a saltire shape onto a blue sky. Other Scottish
companies have also used the saltire in similar ways.

In
Russia, during the
period before and after the Soviet Union, the naval ensign of
the Russian Navy has been an inverse
representation of the Cross of Saint Andrew. (Saint Andrew
is also a patron saint of Russia).
The very
same Saltire was also flown as the flag of Galicia in Spain until 1891,
when Russia requested the Galician flag to be modified in order to
avoid confusion between Galician ships and Russian Navy
ships. The current Galician
flag is actually the original blue-over-white saltire but
without one of the arms of the cross.

The
Scottish Saltire is also used unofficially by students and
graduates of Xavier University because of the university's blue and white official
colours and the resemblance of the flag to the letter "X".
It is also the flag for St. Andrew's Scots School, Argentina
(founded in 1838) and its "spinoff" university Universidad de San
Andrés.

Incorporation into the Union Flag

The Flag of Scotland is one of the key components of the Union Flag, which has been used in a variety of
forms since 1606, when the Flag of Scotland and the Flag of England were first merged to
symbolise the Union of the
Crowns. (The Union of the Crowns having occurred in 1603, when
James VI, King of Scots, acceded
to the thrones of both England
and Ireland). In objecting to the
1606 design of the Union Flag, whereby the cross of Saint George surmounted that of Saint Andrew, a
group of Scots took up the matter with John Erskine, 18th Earl of
Mar, and were encouraged by him to send a letter of complaint,
via the Privy Council of
Scotland, to James VI, which stated that the flag's design
"will breid some heit and miscontentment betwix your Majesties
subjectis, and it is to be feirit that some inconvenientis sail
fall oute betwix thame, for our seyfaring men cannot be inducit to
resave that flage as it is set down". Although documents
accompanying this complaint containing draughts for alternative
flag designs have been lost, evidence of an alternative Scottish
variant, where by the Scottish cross was uppermost, does exist.
This
version may have seen limited and possibly unofficial use in
Scotland before 1707, including on one occasion in 1617 where in
welcoming James VI to Dumfries, the Town Commissar was reported to have stated
"Your Royall Majestie, in whose sacred person the King of kings
hath miraculouslie united so many glorious Kingdoms, under whose
Scepter the whyte and reid crocies are so proprtionablie
interlaced". This description of the crosses being
"so proportionablie interlaced" is interpreted by some as
evidence of a Scottish version of the union flag, however others
dispute this interpretation.

Actual
use of this flag is suggested in the depiction of Edinburgh
Castle by John Slezer, in his
series of engravings entitled Theatrum
Scotiae, c. 1693. Appearing in later editions of
Theatrum Scotiae, this engraving depicts the Scotch (to use the appropriate
adjective of that period) version of the Union Flag flying from the
Castle Clock Tower. Such a design is described in the 1704 edition
of The Present State of the Universe by John Beaumont,
Junior, which contains as an appendix The Ensigns, Colours or
Flags of the Ships at Sea: Belonging to The several Princes and
States in the World. Within this appendix, the flag's blazon
is given as "Azure, a Cross gules, fimbriated,
argent; over all a Saltier of the last". This blazon is
described elsewhere as "On a blue shield (field?)
of Scotland the red cross of St. George fimbriated with its white
field, surmounted by the white cross of St. Andrew".

On 17
April 1707, just two weeks prior to the Acts of Union coming into effect, and
with Sir Henry St George, Garter
King of Arms, having presented seven designs of flag to
Queen Anne and her Privy Council for consideration, the flag for
the soon to be unified Kingdom of Great Britain was chosen. Along with that version finally
selected, the designs for consideration had included that version
of Union Flag showing the Cross of Saint Andrew uppermost;
identified as being the "Scotts union flagg as said to be used
by the Scotts". Despite bold lobbying on the part of the Scots
representatives to the Privy Council, all their efforts were to be
in vain, for that version of Union Flag showing the Cross of Saint
George uppermost was destined to win the day.

References

Scottish Government websiteFrom 8am till
sunset - The Saltire should now where possible be flown every day
from Scottish Government buildings. Retrieved on 28 November
2009

National Archives of Scotland websiteIt was used
on seals in Scotland from about 1180 onwards, sometimes along with
the lion rampant, which was the heraldic symbol of the Scottish
crown. Retrieved 28 November 2009